Goodbye
by WhereDestiniesMeet17
Summary: Shane went there to close a chapter of his life, to put his and Jack's troubled past to rest. He didn't realize he was starting a new chapter at the exact same moment. Jack/Shane. Slash. Hiatus. See Profile.
1. Chapter 1

_**Goodbye**_

_**Chapter 1: Goodnight**_

Disclaimer: I do not own One Life to Live. I make no profit from this work of fiction. This is written strictly for entertainment.

Pairing: Jack Manning/Shane Morasco

Rated: M for language, possible violence, and eventual sexual situations.

Summary: Shane went there to close a chapter of his life, to put his and Jack's troubled past to rest. He didn't realize he was starting a new chapter at the exact same moment. Jack/Shane. Slash.

Author's Note: I have three things to say before we go on. One, I actually started this the day of the finale. I kept expecting Shane and Jack to have one last confrontation but it never happened. Two, I found an awesome Shane/Jack video on YouTube this weekend. The name is **OLTL: Shane and Jack - "I Touch Myself" **by **thumbsupthiscomment. **It was awesome and made me really want to write about these two. And three, read **A Scar in the Making** by _**royal-chandler**_. I highly recommend reading that story. It is amazing, was the first Shane/Jack story I ever read, and it has inspired me time and time again. That over, read on.

* * *

Shane Morasco's knuckles ached as he wrapped on the white door. His heart was pounding painfully in his chest, and his palms were slick with sweat. He was already regretting his decision to do this. He had no reason to believe the outcome to be satisfactory and was being naïve to believe anything good could come of one final confrontation. He was being foolish by even bothering.

Shane lifted his hand to knock again. At the very last second, his courage failed him, and his fist paused in mid-knock. He couldn't do this. Maybe there was a reason no one was answering. Maybe the universe was giving him the cue to leave. After all, the universe kind of owed him for all those years it was a dick to him.

Shane cast a glanced behind himself as he retreated from the door. He was looking at the exact moment that moon decided to catch the elusive exhaust, that was drifting toward the heavens, and illuminate it. Then the moon fell back into the sliver clouds, rendering Shane blind. The only thing that kept him from believing that a black hole had suddenly erupted underfoot, was the sound of his heartbeat, resounding in his ears.

It was as he tried to regain his night vision, that he heard the thunder of someone stomping down the staircase inside the house. Shane followed the path the footsteps took in his mind's eye. He knew that the person was crossing the tile floor when the footsteps dropped a few octaves. A second later the locks were being slid back and the door yanked open.

Artificial light poured forth, striking Shane's pupils and making them constrict.

"What the hell do you want?" The very person Shane didn't want to see, but needed to, demanded. Shane unfortunately missed the part where his mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "Shane?" Jack Manning asked.

"We need to talk." Shane stated as calming as he could. He did it surprisingly well.

* * *

If there was one thing that Shane had learned in life, it was the fact that it wasn't a comic book. In real life, good guys rarely win, scars don't always fade, and time can't heal everything. Sometimes, you have to get your hands dirty to fix things. There just isn't any other way. Life just wasn't as simple as kicking the shit out of your arch enemy and then retiring to enjoy a nice martini.

"Okay." Jack consented, confusion still flickering across his face briefly, before his mask fell back down.

He stepped through the doorway, pulling the door close behind him. With the door such, the light was gone, and the two of them were left seeing only silhouettes. Even then, Shane could see the defensive stance the Jack had adopted. If nothing else was true, Jack wasn't as cocky as he use to be.

"Say what you came to say, then leave." Jack said, crossing his arms.

"Okay." Shane agreed, anger tinting his words despite his plan to be civil. "You are a fucking asshole. You've made my life a living hell. Because of you, I nearly ended it, only in the vain hope of escaping you. Because of you, I nearly lost my mother and only by some twist of fate do I have her now. Because of you-"

"If you only came here to blame me-" Jack started to break in, stepping away from the door.

"Jack, shut the hell up and listen to me. Because of the things you've done to me, I had to come here and tell you goodbye." Shane snapped.

For a split second, it felt like the entire world had glitched and froze. Then, just like a DVD, the world lurched back into motion. Shane was confused by the sudden movement, just like someone watching a malfunctioning movie would be.

And that movement was Jack lunging at Shane and grabbing his shoulders in a grip tight enough to bruise.

* * *

Shane didn't have a chance to shove Jack away before he was speaking.

"Don't you fucking dare tell me goodbye. Don't you even think about telling me_ goodbye,"_ Jack twisted the word with such contempt that Shane felt a chill run down his spine. "Do you understand me?" Jack demanded, shaking him roughly.

Surrealist crashed down on Shane. He didn't know how he knew what Jack was thinking, he just did. Shane couldn't follow Jack's train of thought toward assuming _that_ was the reason. He just couldn't comprehend the reason why Jack first response was to grab onto him and order him not to say it.

Hell, Shane didn't understand Jack.

"I'm leaving Llanview." Shane didn't continue; he didn't have to. That sentence was enough to clear up the misinterpretation.

"Oh."

Neither of them spoke another word. They glared intensely at each other, their true meanings lost in the short distance between them. Shane felt the tension slowly leave Jack's body. His grip eased from painful and into the realm of gentle. Shane could have sworn it slipped into the caress zone half a second before they slid off his shoulder and back to Jack's side.

"Oh." Jack repeated. "Why now?"

"I've been carrying around all this hate for you, and I'm tired of it. I figured if I came here, I could leave it behind and maybe find some form of closure. I thought that maybe I could finish what you started all those months ago."

Jack opened his mouth before closing it. Shane watched as he shifted through thousands of words, all to find the ones he needed to say. And out of the half a million odd words in the English language, Jack could only think of three.

"I'm sorry Shane." Jack whispered, his throat aching as he said it. "For everything."

Shane looked down towards the ground. He clinched his fists, thinking his next words through before speaking. "I think that's the first time I've ever remotely believed you." Shane told him.

"Thank you…"

A not quite comfortable, not quite awkward, silence welled between them. Jack didn't speak, throat aching, and still processing the gift that Shane didn't know he had given him. Shane didn't have anything else to say, having spoken what he came to say.

They stood there until they became aware of the clocks inside the house hitting twelve.

"I need to go." Shane told him. The longer he stayed, the closer he came to getting caught.

Jack nodded. "When are you leaving Llanview?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

Jack didn't have to ask if they'd see each other again. Deep down, he knew that everyone returned to Llanview eventually.

"Goodnight Shane." Jack murmured.

"Goodnight Jack." Shane returned.

Jack watched Shane move towards the car. He heard the car door open and slam. The car revved to life, lights flickering on. Jack looked on as the car pulled out of the drive.

When it was gone, he eased himself down to the ground. He wasn't ready to go back inside. He just wanted to savor the feeling of being alone and (for however short of a time it might be) at peace.

* * *

Author's Note 2: Concrit welcome, reviews appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Goodbye**_

_**Chapter 2: **_

_**One More Time**_

Disclaimer: I do not own One Life to Live. This is written strictly for entertainment. I make no profit off of this work of fiction. No copyright infringement intended.

Pairing: Jack/Shane

Author's Note: I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and alerted. I appreciate it and I apologize for the delay. I'm also sorry for what I'm about to do. Blame General Hospital.

* * *

The shock was overwhelming. It paralyzed their bodies and slowed their heart beats. It kept them from taking deep breaths, from feeling alive. It was the only thing that kept them from screaming at the sky, demanding that God change his mind. It kept them from feeling the pain that was hanging over their heads like an anvil, waiting to be dropped. It kept them numb and allowed them to stare at a testament of life's cruelty without them giving into the darkness of their souls.

The shock was the only thing that kept them going as they watched the tiny casket and the long coffin being lowered into the ground, side by side.

For some, the rope was severed by the laughing monster at that very moment, and the anvil fell. They could only wish that it had killed them when it crashed down onto their heads. Anything was better than watching _this;_ the burial of a child and her father. Anything was better than seeing the hollow shell of a woman, watching her very life sink into the soil.

Anything was better than seeing Jack Manning hold Starr's hand as she finally shattered.

Jack simply held on as the biggest pieces were swept away by the wind, never to be found. Starr would never be whole again. Jack didn't say a word as his sister leaned against him, sobbing under the watchful eye of an indifferent sky. For once in Jack's life, he was there when someone needed him.

* * *

Jack sat on the steps leading to the second floor, head in his hands. He felt like he was about to get sick. Whatever Blair had given Starr had worked, putting her instantly to sleep. But Starr couldn't escape the pain even in her dreams. She had started to cry in her sleep. The sounds she had made were unbearable.

They were worse than looking at into her blank eyes. Those unguarded whimpers, the names she called out, were heavy with pain. She was chasing after their fleeting images, running towards them but always too late to catch them. Her mind was torturing her in the worse ways possible.

Jack didn't look up when he heard footsteps. There were quite a few people wandering around, trying everything in their power to comfort the grieving family. Some of them had only known the victims in passing, but they had still come. They were willing to give anything to ease their pain, but in the end, there was only one thing any of them wanted. And it was still impossible for man to give _that._

The footsteps stopped directly in front of him. Someone was going to try to talk to Jack. Couldn't they just leave him the fuck alone? He wasn't the one grieving. He wasn't the one that needed their pity. Starr and Blair, even Todd needed them more than he did at that moment.

So what if he had watched her grow up? So what if he had been her uncle? So what if he was lying to himself?

"Jack."

Jack looked up, letting his hands fall. He was only mildly surprised (the anvil having yet to drop for him) to find Shane Morasco standing in front of him. He was wearing the proper attire of the day. He had obviously been at the funeral, but Jack couldn't remember seeing him. A lot of people had shown up, after all, so maybe he had been lost in the crowd.

"You okay?" Shane asked, which normally would have sent Jack reeling, but there was nothing.

Jack was still so numb.

"I think I'm going to get sick." Jack admitted, stomach was still rolling and whimpers still tumbling around in his head.

Jack finally looked up, meeting Shane's eyes. He hadn't been able to focus on any all day, but he was able to focus on him. Mainly Shane's eyes, which were sad and kind, just like so many others that had passed him in the days leading up to the funeral. They held absolutely no animosity for him, just like the others.

Shane really had forgiven him.

The rope began to fray.

"I'll help you upstairs."

Jack didn't say a word, he just let Shane help him to his feet and lead him up the stairs.

* * *

"Thank you." Jack muttered, falling onto his bed. It was unmade so Jack wasn't worried about messing it up as he curled into a ball. He pulled his pillow against him, burying his face into.

If he hadn't been numb, he would have been embarrassed.

Shane stood beside the bed, looking around. The room wasn't what he had been expecting. It was a mixture of blues and blacks, bare but inhabited. It was just strange.

"I guess this is a really bad time to ask how life has been." Shane muttered, sitting down on the bed.

Jack rolled over, looking up at him. He didn't try to smile, knowing it would come out as a grimace. Raw honesty filled his words, as much as he wished it hadn't. "Pretty much shit. What about you?"

Shane shrugged, letting out the noncommittal, "fine," that is in every teenager's vocabulary. "School is still school, no matter what you're doing."

"Why are you here?" Jack asked, needing the conversation to keep going.

"We were in town visiting my grandmother-you know Roxy right? And Mom thought we should pay our respects."

"Mmm," Jack mumbled.

"I really am sorry about what happened to them."

"Me too. I don't see how Starr is able to get up in the morning."

"Jack…" Shane trailed off. He didn't know what to say.

Before he could try again, there was a buzzing sound. Shane riffled in the pocket of the black slacks he wore. He found the phone, checking it with impatient eyes. He sighed.

"I need to go." He said, dumping the phone back in his pocket.

Jack nodded, closing his eyes. He realized suddenly that he had been right. Shane had come back to Llanview. It didn't bring him any pleasure though. Pleasure was a far off concept that didn't belong anywhere near the black cloud of death that clung to them.

"Bye." Jack murmured.

"Bye," Shane returned.

Jack kept his eyes closed until he heard the door click shut. Then he looked at the door, imagining Shane walking down the stairs and out the front door. He imagined never seeing Shane again.

It felt nothing like the last time Shane had said goodbye. This time, Jack wished neither of them had said it. Maybe then, Shane wouldn't have left. Because this time, there was no peace, no comfort. There was just cold numbness, which was quickly fading away, leaving him to feel every bit of the pain when the rope finally snapped.

* * *

Author's Note 2: Concrit welcome, review appreciated.


End file.
